CM Punk is AEW's most important star, and the possibility of not getting him back for the All Out pay-per-view is challenging for the company to swallow. He last wrestled on the June 1 episode 0f Wednesday Night Dynamite, where he teamed with FTR to take on the Gunn Club and Max Caster. During that segment, the World Champion injured his foot and missed the Forbidden Door and ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view events due to the wound.
AEW and Punk have been careful about putting a timeline on his comeback. Jon Moxley has been defending the interim AEW World Championship while The Voice of the Voiceless is on the mend and has even said there's no need to call him interim champion anymore. When Punk is ready to wrestle again, he'll unify his championship with whoever the interim title holder is at the time. There must have been at least some hope that the unification match could headline AEW's biggest pay-per-view of the year, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards at this juncture.
On a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer gave the following update on CM Punk: "I know Punk was hurting pretty bad as of two weeks ago. I don't know if he's going to be ready for the pay-per-view, so it will probably end up being [at Full Gear]." This is in line with the injury update Punk gave at the recent San Diego Comic Con, where he shockingly admitted having to relearn how to walk.
Meltzer's report isn't surprising for AEW fans who've been keeping up with Punk's recovery. It's still tough to hear that his return for All Out has more or less been ruled out. Full Gear won't be taking place until November. AEW hasn't announced where that show will be physically taking place. Having Punk in the main event of All Out would have been a home run for the company, given that it is taking place in his hometown of Chicago.
It's unclear who will be interim champion by All Out, but there's no one in the company who can replace CM Punk's drawing power and star power. Good as Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, and Claudio Castagnoli is, they don't demand the same kind of attention as Punk. The Windy City has always treated AEW incredibly well and is arguably its most supportive city. Even when he was in WWE, the reception Punk gets in Chicago is otherworldly, so having that atmosphere to close out the pay-per-view would have been stellar.
Source: Wrestling Observer Radio